Review of The Class (2008) by Donal O — 08 Sep 2013

I just noticed on my RT report that I've given two movies 0%... and as I know that I would never give anything lower than 10% I checked out the ratings... Guess how surprised I was when I discovered that one of those movies is The Class - a 2008 French drama directed by Laurent Cantet. Its original French title is Entre les murs, which translates literally to "Between the walls" or "Within the walls". It is based on the 2006 novel of the same name by François Bégaudeau. This semi-autobiographical account of Bégaudeau's experiences as a French language and literature teacher in a middle school in the 20th arrondissement of Paris, particularly illuminating his struggles with "problem children" Esmerelda (Esmeralda Ouertani), Khoumba (Rachel Regulier), and Souleymane (Franck Keïta). The film stars Bégaudeau himself in the role of the teacher.

A wonderful movie which deserved the Palme d'Or it got at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival, making it the first French film to do so since 1987, when Maurice Pialat won the award for Under the Sun of Satan. The uniqueness of this film is that the camera never leaves the school. The film is set in the staff room, the playground, the dining room, the principal's office, a conference room, and the classroom where François Marin (François Bégaudeau) is a form tutor who teaches the French language to a mixed group of 14- and 15-year-olds. Nothing is shown of the homes of staff and pupils! Honest and heart-warming life story about a teacher who is neither weary cynic nor wide-eyed idealist... just a decent, determined realist. Do not look at this character as a saint, though by the end of the school year he has exhibited certain of the necessary qualities to be categorised as one.

Enjoy it!